That the conflict would force the
civilian population out of the area affected in Swat
and flood the towns and camps in NWFP was not in doubt,
our inability to organize relief is frightening. The
widespread sympathy for the army action, not only
among the local population of Swat and Dir, but most
Pakistanis will not last for long. The humanitarian
crisis and the official inability to tackle it will
soon turn the sentiments. Unfortunately the army action
was unavoidable, the alternative was the whole of
Pakistan getting destabilised......more

Defining
Moment

Every nation has defining moments,
one keeps hoping they are few and far between. Pakistan
is not so fortunate, we find ourselves quite often
at a crossroads of sorts. Sufi Muhammad gave us one
such defining moment when he disabused us of any further
illusion as to how his agenda differed from that of
his rather brutal son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah. The
media had elevated the Pied Piper of Konduz (Konduz
is the town he abandoned the young following he led
across the border in 2001 to combat the US invasion
of Afghanistan) in the last few months into a full-blown
hero, many times larger than life than he really is.....more

Defining
Character

While the book “War of Choice, War of Necessity”
by Richard Haas makes for very interesting reading,
his Essay “The Dilemma of Dissent” is
more of an eye-opener. With experience in the White
House working with both the younger and elder Bush,
Haas was an insider in the making of decisions affecting
millions. Very frequently the rulers and their close
aides made important ones without proper enquiry,
analysis or debate. To quote Joseph Helke in his novel,
“Good as Gold”, “independent men
(and women) of integrity who will agree with all our
decisions after we make them”. Those facilitating
such decision-making are known as “Enablers”.
One way to avoid becoming an “Enabler”
was to resign, that unfortunately requires a conscience.....more